The present invention relates generally to databases and more particularly to storing portions of a file across multiple servers.
Currently, databases in a distributed computing environment are typically partitioned for performance rather than security, due to the volume of information being stored in each database. Being able to maximize storage without sacrificing performance has typically taken priority over security of the content being stored. In an example distributed computing environment, a hundred million records can be stored across twenty databases, where five million records are stored in each of the twenty databases. The records are partitioned horizontally, such that all the information of a single record is stored in one database. The partitioning of the records according to the twenty databases may include additional considerations, such as geographical locations, where a single database services a single geographic location. Though such a horizontal partitioning of records reduces exposure to all of the records, five million records are at risk if at least one database becomes compromised by someone accessing the database without authorization. The administrator has to focus on maintaining security across all twenty databases rather than one database and the ramifications of losing five million records are substantially the same as losing a hundred million records.